Publishers Weekly
★ 01/23/2023
Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts) posits that the depletion of earth’s resources might be avoidable by raiding the “universe next door”—unless the neighbors complain loudly as they do in this brilliant dimension-hopping sci-fi thriller and Pandominion series launch. Hadiz Tambuwal, a scientist on a crash program to stave off Earth’s looming ecological collapse, discovers a gateway to alternate Earths that lack people, but offer clean air and water. Unfortunately, her explorations attract the attention of the Pandominion, a collective of Earth-hopping beings (not all of them human) who fear incursions from “Unvisited” dimensions and are enmeshed in a war with the Ansurrection, a unity of AI-driven robotic beings. Carey skillfully explores the moral complications of machine personhood as brilliant schoolgirl Topaz Tourmaline FiveHills befriends an Ansurrection infiltrator that seeks individuality, and Hadiz perfects her world-hopping device with help from Rupshe, an experimental AI. The stark choices of war or peace and environmental health or disaster are unsettlingly close to current-day issues, making this cosmos-spanning work a timely plea for planetary sanity. Readers will be wowed. Agent: Meg Davis, Ki Agency. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"[A] brilliant dimension-hopping sci-fi thriller... Readers will be wowed." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"The plot doesn’t map onto a traditional hero’s journey arc and feels all the fresher for it. Short, action-packed chapters keep the pace brisk, and each character we meet, however briefly, is vividly and empathetically drawn. A genuine treat for SF fans: an epic multiverse tale that moves like a thriller."—Kirkus (Starred Review)
"Infinity Gate, with its in-depth science and rich characterization, is a must-read for sf fans."—Booklist (Starred Review)
“An immense achievement, an impeccably crafted book without a single word out of place.”—The New York Times
"Big and bold... The writing is vivid, the pace is fast-moving."—Wall Street Journal
"Infinity Gate is a powerful exploration of the near-future, skillfully and seamlessly weaving different realities and different iterations of AI. In other hands, this might be messy, but Carey has the experience, imagination and verve to pull it off. A must-read!”—Tade Thompson, author of Rosewater
"A master storyteller." —io9
“A fascinating window onto a dangerous and multifaceted universe.”—Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time
“They say there’s nothing new under the sun. Well, M. R. Carey heard this and invented a whole new sun to put new things under. This is gripping, unrelenting, and absolutely unique. Top-notch science fiction, thrilling and thoughtful at the same time.”—Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway
“M. R. Carey reaffifirms his place in the ranks of SF with this startlingly good novel. Fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky will love it.”—Paul Cornell
"Carey writes with compassion and fire - strange and surprising and humane."
—Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls on The Boy on the Bridge
"M.R. Carey hefts astonishing storytelling power with plainspoken language, heartbreaking choices, and sincerity like an arrow to the heart."
—Locus on The Book of Koli
"A thought-provoking and deeply engaging story ... profoundly and doggedly humane."—C. A. Fletcher on The Book of Koli
"Heartfelt, remorseless and painfully human...as fresh as it is terrifying. A jewel."—Joss Whedon on The Girl With All the Gifts
C. A. Fletcher on The Book of Koli
A thought-provoking and deeply engaging story ... profoundly and doggedly humane.
io9
A master storyteller.
Joss Whedon on The Girl With All the Gifts
Heartfelt, remorseless and painfully human...as fresh as it is terrifying. A jewel.
author of The Shining Girls on The Boy on the Brid Lauren Beukes
Carey writes with compassion and fire - strange and surprising and humane.
Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author Tade Thompson
Infinity Gate is a powerful exploration of the near-future, skillfully and seamlessly weaving different realities and different iterations of AI. In other hands, this might be messy, but Carey has the experience, imagination, and verve to pull it off. A must-read!”
author of Rosewater Tade Thompson
Infinity Gate is a powerful exploration of the near-future, skillfully and seamlessly weaving different realities and different iterations of AI. In other hands, this might be messy, but Carey has the experience, imagination and verve to pull it off. A must-read!
Library Journal
01/27/2023
This is the first novel in the new "Pandominion" series from Carey (The Fall of Koli). The story focuses on Hadiz Tambuwal, a scientist who invents inter-dimensional travel while looking for a way to prevent the environmental collapse of her home planet. However, Tambuwal is caught in the midst of a war between the Pandominion, a political and trading alliance of a million Earths across many different realities, and the machine hegemony Ansurrection, an AI threat that seeks to eradicate the Pandominion by whatever means necessary. Along the way, Tambuwal joins forces with Essien Nkanika and Topaz Tourmaline FiveHills to survive the war in any way they can. As he did with The Girl with All the Gifts, Carey takes a popular genre and adds his own imaginative twist. His latest novel is full of world-building, and there are a number of concepts and terms that readers will have to become accustomed to. However, Carey is a gifted writer who expertly weaves exposition into the plot without sacrificing pacing. VERDICT This will appeal to science fiction readers of all ages.—Lydia Fletcher
June 2023 - AudioFile
This audiobook is nothing short of outstanding, thanks in part to the incredible performance of narrator Dami Olukoya, which takes it to the next level. At first, the story seems overly steeped in unnecessarily complicated science, but listeners who soldier through that will engage with whole new worlds and dimensions. A scientist on our dying Earth discovers a gateway to millions more planets, only to find that each Earth is in crisis. Olukoya is a chameleon, effortlessly slipping from character to character, giving each a distinct personality and nationality. From the Nigerian accents of the two main characters to the inexplicable Irish lilt of an AI, Olukoya's efforts make this sci-fi delightful and easy to follow. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-01-25
A desperate scientist. A selfish rogue. A caring child. And the fate of infinite realities.
At the beginning of this multiverse-spanning tale, an unnamed narrator tells us we’re going to hear the stories of three individuals: first, Hadiz Tambuwal, an accidental genius; second, Essien Nkanika, an impoverished man willing to do anything to survive; and finally, Topaz Tourmaline FiveHills, a sentient rabbit whose choices changed the course of history. From that confident and intriguing opening, we jump right into Hadiz’s story. She’s a scientist working in a research station in Nigeria who can see the end of civilization coming and finds it terribly inconvenient that this collapse might interrupt her work. She’s looking for dark energy but instead stumbles on a way to hop into alternate universes. We soon learn that thousands of these alternate universes are governed by an empire called the Pandominion that invented cross-universe travel long ago and doesn’t care for people making unsanctioned trips. But with Hadiz’s Earth in the midst of civilizational collapse and environmental catastrophe, she’s left with no choice but to hop sideways to another Earth—and unknowingly set in motion a reality-altering chain of events. The result is sort of a space opera that never goes to space, instead spanning thousands of alternate Earths, including multiple Earths where evolution took a different path and the dominant sentient species is descended from rabbits, hedgehogs, or others of our mammalian cousins. The plot doesn’t map onto a traditional hero’s journey arc and feels all the fresher for it. Short, action-packed chapters keep the pace brisk, and each character we meet, however briefly, is vividly and empathetically drawn.
A genuine treat for SF fans: an epic multiverse tale that moves like a thriller.
